Final Fantasy games worth playing?

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Weaver

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6 is probably my favorite. I think 7 is one of the most overrated games in the history of the industry. Also, I refuse to use Roman numerals.
 

LilithSlave

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j-e-f-f-e-r-s said:
IX

Get IX.

Go out this minute and buy IX.

Seriously, Square re-released it on PSN a year or two ago. You can download IX and pay not very much monies for it at all.

...why are you reading this when you could be buying IX?

...have you bought IX yet? I really think you should. It's rather a good game.

Seriously though, stop reading this and go play Final Fantasy IX.

...played it yet? Good. Isn't it a wonderful game? Aren't you so glad that I suggested you go and buy Final Fantasy IX this instant?
This post is scientifically verified for correct and I recommend it.

In fact, pretty much everything classic Final Fantasy, I consider to be the glory years. Back when they were more fantasy and less sci-fi. I don't know quite how to explain it, but I don't think Square knows what they're doing when it comes to incorporating "futurist" elements into their games, for the most part. Because when I look upon their more fantasy games, like Final Fantasy Tactics, those games were not only good, but really, really good. As I look at the move to more sci-fi elements and tendencies, I see things getting too flashy for the sake of it. And just not having the same "magic".

So yes, I recommend games like IX, IV, VI, and Tactics.
 

KrossBillNye

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j-e-f-f-e-r-s said:
IX

Get IX.

Go out this minute and buy IX.

Seriously, Square re-released it on PSN a year or two ago. You can download IX and pay not very much monies for it at all.

...why are you reading this when you could be buying IX?

...have you bought IX yet? I really think you should. It's rather a good game.

Seriously though, stop reading this and go play Final Fantasy IX.

...played it yet? Good. Isn't it a wonderful game? Aren't you so glad that I suggested you go and buy Final Fantasy IX this instant?
I think I love Jeffers just for this post.

But yes, IX is an amazing FF game. I would suggest all FFs aside from the Online ones and XIII to start off your experience with as I found them all aside from XIII to be a fun experience.
 

Lunar Templar

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well since you asked ...

FF 4, 5, 6, and 9 are worth it

now matter what any one try's to tell you about 10-2, it sucks, avoid. only parts of it i could be pressed to recommend if for is combat, and the job system.

as for the Crystal Barers? >.> it didn't feel like a Final Fantasy to me, as for the FF tactics, mileage me very, it's really for the strategy game fans, and that's not me
 

HHammond

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To be honest, they're all good as long as you go into it in the right mood. The only one I would say avoid at all costs is VIII and X.

I - fun but simple
II - ditto
III - Haven't played much but it's alright
IV - One of the better ones. Fantastic story and great gameplay
V - Haven't played this one
VI - Overrated in my opinion. VI is a bit of a clusterfuck with it's characters and the writing isn't stellar. The GBA translation is much better though. Still haven't finished it though.
VII - As you said, great story, great characters, great world. People say it's overrated but I still think it's great.
VIII - Eugh, stupid stupid stupid. Avoid at all costs.
IX - Great story and world and probably one of the best, even if the battle system isn't great.
X - Fun battle system but the stupid cutscenes, story, characters and complete lack of subtly when it comes to metaphors make it unbearable.
X-2 - while the cutscenes are still stupid and the writing is poor, the characters are slightly more bearable and the combat system is fun. But I haven't played much of it.
XI - Haven't played, but I hear it's not great.
XII - Haven't played much but it's really fun from what I have, no idea why I haven't played more.
XIII - IT'S VERY IMPORTANT YOU GO INTO THIS ONE WITH THE RIGHT MINDSET. The story is very complicated and difficult to follow, the characters start out annoying as hell and it is incredibly melodramatic but if you accept that this and the linearity (and that the game has some pacing issues at the start) you'll find a really fun game. Once you get to a certain point you'll find yourself quite endeared by the characters and enjoying the game. The backlash was very over the top and was very much based on a few peoples experience of the first few hours.
XIII-2 - playing now! So we'll see...
 

SamuelT

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j-e-f-f-e-r-s said:
IX

Get IX.

Go out this minute and buy IX.

Seriously, Square re-released it on PSN a year or two ago. You can download IX and pay not very much monies for it at all.

...why are you reading this when you could be buying IX?

...have you bought IX yet? I really think you should. It's rather a good game.

Seriously though, stop reading this and go play Final Fantasy IX.

...played it yet? Good. Isn't it a wonderful game? Aren't you so glad that I suggested you go and buy Final Fantasy IX this instant?
This person is a very smart person and this persons advice should be followed at all times.
 

Jazoni89

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In my opinion, every game from Three (The DS version, and even the English patched Nes version), all the way up to Nine, are worth playing (Yes even V and VIII, problem Fanboys?)

X is rather hit and miss, and everything beyond that is garbage.
 

dimensional

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Ill just give my (brief) opinion on what I thought of each one:-

I - Ok I suppose not much to say really its very grindy and story isnt up to much but its ok not worth going out of your way to play though.

II - pretty bad probably the worst FF I have played, it is even more grindy than the first and the levelling system is broken to all hell while the story is a bit better than the 1st but only just.

III - feels and plays like FFI but just tidied up still not exactly great but better than I and II.

IV - Pretty Good actually some nice characters and story, combat is ok still a bit stilted but better, probably the first FF worth actually playing.

V - Feels like FFIII redone this is the game FF1 should have been from the start but it never fulfills its potential and in the end probably isnt worth the effort to play.(better than I,II and III though)

VI - Really good a nice story the combat is improved as well not much else to say really just I really enjoyed VI.

VII - Really good as well VII and VI are easily the top 2 FF games in my opinion this also has a good story and characters plus the battle system is arguably the best in the series.

VIII - ok combat flowed nicely enough and the story was ok but a bit of a let down after the last 2 installments the heavy emphasis on the card game within can get annoying sometimes.

IX - ok characters and story are fine but it is deliberately backward facing which I wouldnt mind as such except it really strips back the combat system to almost FFIV standards which it effortlessly surpassed with VI,VII and VIII the worst part about this game is the detachment from inputs and action in combat you press attack then seem to wait quite an extraordinate amount of time before youre command is followed. Its not a deal breaker but sullied an otherwise good game.

X - bit linear but overall pretty good story and characters are ok the combat system is fantastic plus the levelling up system is nice and the endgame content is great. Somethings are a bit cringeworthy mainly due to the voice acting but overall I enjoyed this game its probably my 3rd favourite FF.

X-2 - Hmmm yeah ok I suppose not much to see here probably isnt worth going out of youre way to play.

XII - very bland characters (except balthier) and a dull story dont help things although I did appreciate it wasnt about saving the world again (but maybe they should have stuck with that) the battle system is annoyingly tedious when fighting different enemy types all the time not to mention summons and quickenings becoming redundant very quickly the end game however is really good just behind X in amount to do but its whether you want to spend 40 plus hours of boredom to get to it. Its worth a look for most people though as it really is a love or hate game.

XIII - Ok characters are annoying but at least have a personality story isnt that good while the combat system starts as being extremely boring but eventually opens up to be great fun the worst part of this game is it dosent let you fully do as you want until after the game has finished its probably not worth persevering but it does reward eventually.

On a sidenote I found Dissidia Duodecim great fun despite not really liking dissidia .Its not the easiest of games to enjoy straight off the bat it takes a fair amount of getting into (and stop mashing buttons).

I have only mentioned the ones I have played to completion at least once. I have never tried XI or XIV and probably never will and I have yet to buy XIII-2.
 

Sion_Barzahd

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j-e-f-f-e-r-s said:
IX

Get IX.

Go out this minute and buy IX.

Seriously, Square re-released it on PSN a year or two ago. You can download IX and pay not very much monies for it at all.

...why are you reading this when you could be buying IX?

...have you bought IX yet? I really think you should. It's rather a good game.

Seriously though, stop reading this and go play Final Fantasy IX.

...played it yet? Good. Isn't it a wonderful game? Aren't you so glad that I suggested you go and buy Final Fantasy IX this instant?
I second this entire statement. FF IX is easily the best in the series for everything from characters and story to enjoyable combat.

Also it has a world map, remember when RPGs had world maps? Yeah that was nice. hope you're listening Square-Enix.

Also as a non-FF venture to JRPGs; Tales of Vesperia. Or any of the JRPG games you stumble across with "Tales of" at the beginning. Those are amazing too.
 

bullet_sandw1ch

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XIII-2 is the best game ive played in the past six months, since deus ex: HR. it is fun, touching, and gorgeous. don't listen to the FF XIII-2 trolls.
 

michael87cn

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I rather dislike almost all of the FF games, but hear me out. I'm not going to talk about any of the games prior to 7, because it gets confusing and I don't want a giant wall of text.

I disliked FF7 because of its horrible polygonal graphics. Now I'm NOT a graphics whore. I still play old sprite games, in fact, I prefer simpler graphics. But I like them to actually look nice, which is plenty possible with say, Doom quality graphics. FF7 is just too awful looking, at least at the time. The main character looks like a lego! Or pop-eye! His biceps are larger than his head, but everything else about him is skinny... except when you go into turn battles, and then everything looks proper. What the hell? Why didn't they just use the battle model for the exploration mode charcters? Anyway, I love the music in the game, the combat is fun and the story is creative and inventive, but I can't forgive the graphics in this game.

FF8- graphics are great, music is great, story is again creative, but one major flaw.... enemies level up with you - making actually playing the game redundant, in fact... you could just remove xp and levels from the game entirely. . . hell, remove all combat... because it plays like oblivion.

FF9- same story here... but whats this? (oh god, what am i getting into here, the first page of this thread had at least 5 FF9 fanboys...) the graphics are detailed and excellent, but they purposefully chibi-tise all the characters? Ugh, again, I couldn't get past the fact that I was playing characters that didn't look older than 4 or 5 years old, based on their body size. Its just, not fun to me. Another lost opportunity here for a story to be taken seriously with interesting characters, ruined by the style and graphics.

FF10 - I liked this game, except for two small complaints I have with it. Tidus is pronounced Teedus, instead of Tide-us (which I always thought would be cooler, he DOES have an aqua-ish weapon and plays an underwater sport after all...) and the english voice acting is just horrible. Other than that, first Post Nintendo FF game I could stand to invest all the required hours to get invested in the characters and complete the game.

FF10-2 I didn't get a chance to play this game, but from what I can tell it shifted focus onto playing Yuna.

FF11 was an MMORPG and a damn great game, played it for years and still love it.

FF12 was also a great game, voice acting was improved though we almost reverted to playing children again, it does have adult characters and I really liked the new mmo-style battle system. Its like playing a FREE MMO that doesn't require an internet connection or a server, combined with the quality writing, music and characters typical of the FF series.

FF13 didn't get a chance to play this.

FF14 nor this.

Oops, it ended up being a wall of text anyway, oh well. If I had to recommend a game, I would say play Breath of Fire 3 on the Sony Playstation! IMO, a superior turn based game with a lot of re-playability.
 

Fawful

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Dec 7, 2010
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Ha ha, Final Fantasy fans and their opinions. Ugh, Here's the thing, aside from minor differences in setting and structure all the numbered Final Fantasy games are pretty much the same and it doesn't really matter which games you play. Seriously, just go do a bit of research on the games you've missed and see what appeals to you.

[sub]On a side note I'd recommend the Shin Megami Tensei series if you haven't played them already.[/sub]
 

Robert Ewing

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Mar 2, 2011
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All final fantasy games are worth playing, excluding the MMO's. They're just shit.

If not for the quality, because god some of them are awful, but the fact that you're playing a pure blooded gaming industry grand-daddy. You're literally playing history.

Now, the final fantasy franchise has always been in a bit of a rut for me. The best ones, I.E earlier ones were on incredibly primitive systems. Therefore the graphical grunt, and the size of the games, the sound, the story had to be extremely limited. Final Fantasy VII for example had to have massive amounts of it's story cut, as it couldn't fit onto the discs. Which is why fans are so obsessed with the idea of a remake, because it will be arguably the best game in the series, combined with the immense graphical grunt of all modern systems, and the extended story that nobody has seen.

The later final fantasy's... Such as FFX+ are... well, less than impressive. Very bog standard at best. BUT, they have the advantage of that amazing graphical grunt I've been talking about. AND they have the privilege of being released in an era where gaming is seen as being 'mainstream.' As final fantasy has increased in eye candy, it has decreased in quality. So it would of been nice if saay, VI VII VIII IX X were released in THIS console generation, rather than the last. But that's a question for people who study the butterfly effect I guess.

Final Fantasy games are great, even the bad ones are actually quite good. So play them dammit!
 

XtreemIce

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Jan 28, 2012
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Thibaut said:
The last FF game I played was XII. I sort of liked it, but got a little tired of the grinding.

I liked X's music and atmostphere, but hated it's characters, voice acting and story.

I loved VIII for a good 2/3rds of the game, and even with it's ridiculous and ungodly STUPID ending, I still loved it.

VII. 'Nuff said. This may sound cliché, but this is almost the perfect game held back by some of the design choices back in that generation, like the combat. I've been waiting for a worthy game like it ever since.

I played a bit of VI but I didn't play it enough to remember if I liked it or not.

These are all the FF-games I've played.

I don't know anything about the side games, like X-2 and Crystal Bearers or some sort, there are so many games which don't have a number, and I don't feel like skimming GameSpot's search bar.

I'm on the fence for XIII and XIII-2 and I would be willing to buy a new console for them, but I would like to hear your voices on what I might have missed. New games or older ones.

I've played and completed all of them (didn't bother with 11 and 14, better mmo's out there) And in my mind you've kiiinda played the best ones.


I - surprisingly awesome for the first one
II - better than I, fun skill level up system (the more you attack with a weapon type/use an ability, the higher your skill level in that ability)
III - Balls.
IV - BALLS!
V - meh, play it i guess. At least it's not as balls as the other two.
VI - Must play, holds your attention, you don't run around not knowing what you're doing unlike III and IV.
VII - objectively, probs the best content-wise.
VIII - The only not-balls pc port and my joint favourite with IX for the story (til the end)
IX - my personal favourite, comparatively dumbed down ability system but easily my favourite characters in any FF game and the best ending IMO. Definitely play.
X - Although it's good... I can never forgive it for taking away the world map and starting the linear spiral :(
X-2 - Definitely play it if you've played X! Bit camp and girly. Has the most horrible/boring/grind-y/pointless/tedious requirements for achieving 100% completion though.
XII - Having played it once, never playing it again. Boring. Difficulty curve is too steep. HAVE to grind to progress.
XIII - It's like a pretty story book. You can basically complete it by holding the 'A' button.
XIII - 2 - juuuust about to find out :D

Basically for you I would play I and II, track down a copy of VI, play X-2 (may as well given that you've already played X even though the characters are even more annoying in the sequel) and play XIII if you're really bored. Frankly you could watch a playthrough on youtube for XIII and have an identical experience to playing it for yourself, it's SO linear.
 

Bara_no_Hime

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Sep 15, 2010
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RJ 17 said:
I mean seriously...Yuna goes from being a timid, innocent young summoner to being a frickin' pop-star singer wielding a god damn Desert Eagle. Yeah, no thanks.
So, Yuna goes from being weak and timid to strong and empowered... and you thought that was BAD?!

Seriously, Yuna was just a Moe sad girl in FF X. She was a Japanese fetish.

In X-2, she's a strong capable leader. The pop-star thing was a little silly, but Desert Eagle wielding team leader thing was fucking awesome. She went out and took care of business herself, rather than needing a man (or several men) to do it for her.

I had some other issues with X-2 (seriously, Rikku needs to shut the fuck up sometimes), but Yuna growing as a character wasn't one of them.
 

RJ 17

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Nov 27, 2011
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Bara_no_Hime said:
RJ 17 said:
I mean seriously...Yuna goes from being a timid, innocent young summoner to being a frickin' pop-star singer wielding a god damn Desert Eagle. Yeah, no thanks.
So, Yuna goes from being weak and timid to strong and empowered... and you thought that was BAD?!

Seriously, Yuna was just a Moe sad girl in FF X. She was a Japanese fetish.

In X-2, she's a strong capable leader. The pop-star thing was a little silly, but Desert Eagle wielding team leader thing was fucking awesome. She went out and took care of business herself, rather than needing a man (or several men) to do it for her.

I had some other issues with X-2 (seriously, Rikku needs to shut the fuck up sometimes), but Yuna growing as a character wasn't one of them.
It's not that she became a strong character, it's the utter inconsistency of it all. If you ask me she became even more of a cliched japanese fetish. I just honestly can't imagine someone changing that much in the few years that pass between X and X-2. If nothing else, it was the opening cinematic that just really gave me a bad first impression of the game.